First competition

[DVCNick]

I've got to qualify this by saying I'm a competition newbie and don't know how it goes, what competitions are correctly judged and which ones are difficult to win, etc. I know very little and have no competition experience.

That said, a brewpub local to me had a competition so I figured I would enter. I understand it is a small privately owned chain, called Iron Hill, that has more locations in the northeast (I'm in SC). They are going to pick a winner from each location so I'm only up against other SC entries. There were 51 total in this region. I made the first round cut into the top 5! Pretty cool. Final judging is attendable and is next Saturday. They have a bunch of different styles in the top 5, so not sure how exactly they compare that, but they will pick one overall winner. That winner will have a batch of their recipe brewed on the big system, and will get a 500$ gift card and a sixth keg from the big batch. $1/pint from the big batch goes to charity.

Looking forward to see how it pans out and hopefully at least going to be able to get real scorecards from my two entries. The one that advanced is a simple wheat beer recipe so I guess they are judging more on execution than complexity of the process.

 

[CodeSection]

Congratulations on making the top five! That's awesome!

 

[DVCNick]

Thanks sir! I was surprised for sure.

 

[Sammy86]

Congrats on the top 5! Very exciting stuff, good luck!

 

[Chorgey]

Congrats and good luck!

I was also selected as a top 5 (from the New Jersey location at Iron Hill). It's my first time in a competition as well. I made a Märzen, going against a Mango Jalapeno Pale Ale, Fruited Sour Ale, English Barley wine and a Porter. I imagine they go by the scorecard? I won't be able to make the judging, since I'll be at a memorial for a friend that we just lost.

 

[DVCNick]

Ah, sorry to hear about your friend.
Congrats and good luck!
The "Mango Jalapeno ale" did catch my eye... no idea how they judge something that far off from the norm but I'm hoping to get scorecards as well. I guess they will just go highest number on the scorecard wins.

 

[Chorgey]

I believe we get the score cards emailed to us by the end of the month.

 

[DVCNick]

Well I ended up 3rd in the SC region. They did say that scorecards for all entries will be sent out, so looking forward to seeing that.

 

[CodeSection]

Well I ended up 3rd in the SC region. They did say that scorecards for all entries will be sent out, so looking forward to seeing that.

Very, very respectable! Again, congratulations! It sounds like future competitions are in your future!

 

[DVCNick]

Thanks sir. Yes, assuming actionable feedback comes from the scorecard, I would like to try again!

 

[Chorgey]

Well I ended up 3rd in the SC region. They did say that scorecards for all entries will be sent out, so looking forward to seeing that.

Not too shabby. Did you go to the judging? I don’t know where I finished but I’d like to find out.

 

[DVCNick]

Yes I went.

Two of the judges were full time local employees... You can probably call the head Brewer at your location, he probably knows.

 

[Chorgey]

Thanks! I went there tonight, the head brewer wasn't in. The manager didn't seem to have the answer and said that I should come back when the head brewer was there. I'm just excited to be in the top 5 out of my State.

Again, congratulations on making it to the finals!

 

[DVCNick]

Thanks you too!

 

[Chorgey]

It sounds like this is the inaugural "Brew With a Legend" home brew competition with Iron Hill. Looking forward to next year already! Question is... do you go and try to improve the last entry or go on with something else?

 

[DVCNick]

Yeah, they mentioned this was the first one. I'll do it again for sure.

Just got my scoresheets.
Beer #1, American Pale Ale (this beer did not advance to the top 5 final round) - 10lb 2 row, .75lb Caramel 20
.5 oz Horizon for bittering, 4 oz Citra late additions, 2 oz Citra dry hop
US-05, Whirfloc, adjusted mash and sparge water: Ca 105, Mg 1, Na 8, Cl 108, Sulfate 117
OG 1.050, FG 1.009, 5.4%abv

Judge #1
Aroma: 10/12, Nice American hop nose, citrus and peach
Appearance: 3/3 light golden, vigorous C02, dense white head/good head retention
Flavor: 15/20 nice hop flavor/bitterness. Some yeasty notes, adds some estery flavors to the beer. Slight sweetness.
Mouthfeel: 4/5 Light/medium body, high C02 mouthfeel, finish doesn't linger
Overall impression: 8/10 Well made, maybe a touch sweet, esters take away from hop flavors
Total: 40/50

Judge #2
Aroma: 11/12, Grapefruit and a little tropical, very nice. Touch of malt-bready as well.
Appearance: 3/3 Pale glow? Nice firm head.
Flavor: 15/20 Nice sweetness, bready backbone, bitter bite but quick finish, underlying citrus present, something Belgany, estery.
Mouthfeel: 4/5 Big hit of carbonation, but remains smooth
Overall impression: 8/10 Very drinkable, outstanding aroma, but doesn't translate to the flavor. Mostly to style but a little estery for American Pale.
Total: 41/50

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Beer #2, Entered as American wheat beer, they seem to have switched it to Weissbier (this beer advanced to the top 5 final round and finished 3rd) - 5lb 2 row, 4.5lb white wheat malt, .5lb Carapils
1oz US Tettnanger at 60min
WB-06, adjusted mash and sparge water: Ca 17, Mg 1, Na 8, Cl 33, Sulfate 5
OG 1.046, FG 1.009, 4.8%abv

Judge #1
Aroma: 10/12, Nice and clovey, bubblegum, then banana
Appearance: 3/3 Nice hazy straw, big dense pillowy head, seems to have an abundance of bubbles
Flavor: 18/20 Banana shines more here, crackery wheat, maybe a little .....(unreadable), very mild
Mouthfeel: 5/5 Creamy, smooth, not carby or astringent, ...(unreadable)
Overall impression: 8/10 On style, quite pleasant, good use of ingredients to create traditional flavor. A touch on the sweet and rich side to score
Total: 44/50

Judge #2 - Also checked the "Phenolic" box on the left column of descriptor definitions
Aroma: 11/12 Banana, bubblegum, clove
Appearance: 3/3 Straw/hay in color, high C02, dense white head, lingering head retention
Flavor: 18/20 Nice malt flavor, esters of banana, clove, nice beer, finishes clean, appropriate clove phenolics
Mouthfeel: 4/5 Light body, creamy texture, prickly C02 - high carb
Overall impression: 8/10 Well done, nice representation of style
Total: 44/50

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My initial thoughts:
1) Both pointed to esters as detracting from the Pale Ale... how to address that? I thought this was usually ferm temp control with this kind of yeast; I tend to go around 68-69 the first few days if I remember right. I agree my hop flavors don't pop like the best commercial beers but couldn't tell you why. Maybe this is why.

2) I tend to prefer higher carb levels but I guess not everyone does; obviously that is easy to adjust. Also it was my first time using the beer gun and I wasn't sure how much carb would be lost. Some was, but not a whole lot I guess. I made up some extra bottles for myself to try on judgement day.

 

[Wayne1]

1) Both pointed to esters as detracting from the Pale Ale... how to address that? I thought this was usually ferm temp control with this kind of yeast; I tend to go around 68-69 the first few days if I remember right. I agree my hop flavors don't pop like the best commercial beers but couldn't tell you why. Maybe this is why.

Try fermenting a bit lower in temp. I find US-05 works best at 64-65F. You might want to try fining the beer at 40F after dry hopping. I prefer to use Biofine Clear.